Cup holder



NOV. 5, was. H o, ON ER 2,019,801

CUP HOLDER Filed Oct. 22, 1934 INVENTOR, Jfarvy 0. Jazryen ATTORNEYS.

Patented Nov. 5, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CUP HOLDER Harry 0. Songer, Fairmount Station, M0.

Application October 22, 1934, Serial No. 749,416

6 Claims. (Cl.211--1) This invention relates to holding devices adapted to carry a number of cups in nested, spacedapart relation, and the primary object of the invention is to provide a strong, durable and neat 5 appearing holder that may be used china cabinets or' wherever it isdesired to neatly store a number of cups so that they will not contact or be in danger of falling.

One of the important aims of this invention is 10 to provide a cup holder formed of a single piece of sheet metal and having a horizontal wall provided with a number of cup-receiving openings, all arranged in overlappingrelation so as to hold the cups in nested, spaced positions.

1,; Another object of this invention is the provision of a cup holder having unique supports, some of which may be quickly removed when converting the holder fromone of a stand-type to abracket type susceptible-of being secured in place on 20 a vertical wall.

A further object of the invention is-toprovide a cup holder of the aforementioned character having effective reenforcing flanges along the two longitudinal edges thereof and a specially 25 formed fin integral with at least two of the legs so that a bracket type holder will embody sufiicient rigidity to withstand the weight of the. cups after they are in place.

Minor objects of this invention, specific strucc-e tural details and manner of using the cup holder, will all appear during the course of the following specification, referring to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure l is a perspective View of a cup holder 35 embodying this invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same.

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross section through the cup holder.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged, condensed, longitudinal,

l sectional view taken along line IVIV of Fig. 1,

and,

Fig. 5 is a condensed view of the blanked out piece of sheet metal which may be formed to create the finished holder shown in Fig. 1.

l5 Heretofore it has been customary to hang cups by their handles. Another manner of storing cups has been to stack the same, but both of the aforementioned methods present objections that are well known. The cup holder contemplated 50 by this invention will receive cups of any size within the range of those normally used and when the cups are positioned with the handles all in alignment along the top of the cups, the series thereof will present a neat appearance and 55 will position every cup of the series in a safe place'with respect to the others and where it may be individually removed and replaced without molesting the remaining ones.

In manufacturing the preferred form of cup holder it is desirable to use ordinary sheet metal 5 and form a blank such as illustrated in Fig. 5. The finished product as indicated in Fig. 1, has a normally horizontal wall 8, through which is formed a series of cup-receiving openings Ill and which is reeni'orced by a depending, flanged rib I2 along each edge thereof. In forming the holder it is desirable to crimp the material along the meeting edge between flanges l 2 and wall 8 as indicated in Fig. 3. Thus a very rigid and stiff structure is formed capable of supporting an appreciable amount of weight.

In maintaining the cup holder. in position where cups received by the openings I0 will extend both above and below wall 8, it is necessary to provide. support means for said wall. In this instance, the invention-contemplates two means of supporting wall 8. First, a leg M at each corner respectively ofwall 8 will serve to. hold the wall: in a horizontal plane when the holder isv placed upon a shelf, table, or similar fixture. Each of these legs I4 is formed in a special manner and to have a foot I 6 at the lower end thereof which is parallel to the plane of wall 8. The portion of the material forming this foot is indicated by the numeral I 6 in Fig. 5. Two of legs I4 continue into a fin 3 which extends beneath wall 8 and merges therewith at a point close to the opposite leg M. It is these two opposite legs l4 without a fin structure that may be broken away from the holder when it is to be affixed to a vertical surface in the form of a bracket.

To accomplish this end, the blank is provided with a line of perforations 20 which creates a weakened line along the end of wall 8 and its juncture with legs l4. Bending the material along these perforations 2|] will quickly cause the adj oining leg IE to break away and there will be left only the other two legs, through each of which is formed a screw hole 22. Through these holes 22 a supporting nail or screw may be passed and a shelf-like bracket is presented.

The novel manner of forming openings I0 is clearly illustrated in the drawing and it is necessary to create in each opening a concave edge 24, flanged as at 26, and a convex edge 28. These two edges 24 and 28 are eccentric and their relation with respect to arcuateness is such that the two edges 24 and 28 merge at point 30 adjacent the longitudinal edges of wall 8. In so constructing the wall, openings ID are overlapped and cause the cups carried thereby to nest in spaced-apart relation. The portion of wall 8 between openings IE3 forms a very narrow arcuate strip that may be varied in width to suit different sizes of cups.

The manner of using this holder is obvious from the foregoing and the accompanying drawing. It is plain to see that the convex edge 28 of the opening ID will project into the mouth of the cup, while the outer surface of the cup spaced inwardly from its base will rest upon a part or all of the concave edge 24.

But one embodiment of the invention has been described and it is understood that changes with respect to materials and modifications embodying the various features of the invention might be made without departing from the spirit thereof or the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured'byLetters Patent is:

1. A cup holder comprising a planar, horizontal wall having a series of crescent-shaped cupreceiving openings formed therethrough; and legs to support said wall in position to permit cups to project below said wall, one edge of said wall forming the openings extending into the cup when supporting the same.

2. A cup holder comprising a planar, horizontal wall having a series of crescent-shaped cup-receiving openings formed therethrough; supports formed integrally with the wall to maintain the same in position to permit cups to project below said wall when in the said openings; and a laterally extending flange along each longitudinal edge of said wall, a portion of the said wall extending into the cups when the same are in supopposing convex edge, the former being eccentric with the latter and the two merging adjacent the longitudinal edges of said wall.

4. A cup holder comprising a planar, horizontal wall having a series of cup-receiving openings formed therethrough; and supports formed integrally with the wall to maintain the same in position to permit cups to project both above and below said wall when in said openings, said cup-receiving openings having a concave edge provided with a depending flange and an opposing convex edge, said edges merging together at points adjacent the longitudinal edges of said wall.

5. A cup holder comprising a planar, horizontal wall having a series of cup-receiving openings 'formed therethrough; and supports formed integrally with the wall to maintain the same in position to permit cups to project both above and below said wall when in said openings, said cupreceiving openings having a concave edge and an opposing convex edge, the former being eccentric with the latter and the two merging adjacent the longitudinal edges of said wall, said cup-receiving openings being formed to overlap whereby when a cup is in each opening of the series, the cups will be maintained in spaced-apart, nested relation.

6. A cup holder comprising a planar, horizontal wall having a serles of cup-receiving openings formed therethrough; and a leg at each corner of said wall to support said wall in position to permit cups to project below the wall, two of said legs being provided with screw holes, the remaining legs being provided with a line of perforations along the edges thereof meeting said wall whereby to permit quick breaking away on said perforated legs when the holder is used as a hanging bracket, said holes adapted to receive supporting screws to hang the holder in place, the legs having said screw holes formed therein each being provided with a fin extending beneath the said wall toward the opposing leg that is adapted to be broken away.

HARRY O. SONGER. 

